


Taken for Granted

by Just_Some_Trash



Category: GOT7, Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Adorable Choi Youngjae, Alternate Universe, Angst, Choi Youngjae-centric, Cute Choi Youngjae, Emotional Hurt, How Do I Tag, I Tried, I just thought of this one night, I love them so much uwu, I love them though, I swear, I'll add more tags as i go, I'm Sorry, Insecure Choi Youngjae, M/M, Multi, SO, Sad Choi youngjae, The other got7 members are assholes in the beginning, Twice appears, my first time tagging, sorry - Freeform, this is fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-07-28 07:41:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16237178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_Some_Trash/pseuds/Just_Some_Trash
Summary: They didn't know how good they had it until it's gone.The Got7 members have been really hard on Youngjae due to stress recently and they don't know how badly they hurt him. The members said awful things to Youngjae out of their own anger and eventually, Youngjae believes them."Oh my God Youngjae! Can't you do anything right for once?""Maybe it would be better if you never even entered the group if you don't even care about it.""What can you even actually do well?""I hate you!""Why were you even allowed into this group in the first place?""Hyung, can you leave? You're really not helping.""They're right. I should never have joined the group. I'm just weighing them down..".....................--What if Youngjae was never a member of Got7 but of Stray Kids?Choi Youngjae-Sunshine and oldest of JYP's newest group. Fans choice with vocals and visuals that leave everyone in awe and Stray Kids cutest member.--....................."Hey, where's Youngjae?""Congratulations to Stray Kids, our newest group's successful debut!"





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I tried my best and this is literally one of my first fanfics so don't be too hard on me (;*△*;) Also, there might be spelling mistakes soooo sorry bout that.

Jaebum was having an awful week. The company kept on sending him to different places to go and people to talk to as the leader of Got7. He was feeling very stressed and it didn't help that they were preparing for another comeback. Jaebum leaned against his leather seat in his studio and closed his tired eyes. _"I hate my life,"_ He thought miserably as the stress continued to build up in him. He then soon diligently returned back to working on the comeback and writing even more lyrics while editing the beats he deemed to be mediocre. He was so frustrated however when he just couldn't get the sound he wanted. He threw another piece of lyric paper away totally stressed out to his limits.

The leader didn't exactly know what time it was but he figured it didn't matter after he decided to stretch his numb legs before getting back to work. Around an hour later, a gentle knock at his door got him out of his work daze. The singer grunted at the interruption and angrily opened the door to reveal-

"Youngjae, what are you doing here?" Jaebum asked harshly making the smile the younger had waver a bit at his tone before smiling even wider, irritating the leader more because _"What is he so happy for all the time?"_

Youngjae had on a yellow fuzzy sweater with a baby chick in the center of hit with denim shorts and a pair of yellow converse high tops. The older thought he looked cute though he would never admit it out loud. Youngjae held out a bag of take out food and showed it to the older before responding. "Because you haven't eaten all day so I brought you some food! It's your favorite, soft spicy tofu stew!" Youngjae exclaimed brightly before letting himself in. Jaebum sighed and closed the door before returning back to his seat and ignoring the younger. "Hyung! You have to eat!" Youngjae pouted as he stared at the older singer ignoring him in favor of working, working, and working. Jaebum would've loved to spend time and pay attention to the sunshine of the group but the deadline for the song he was working on was too close and he couldn't afford to waist even one second of his time. Apparently, this was a no no for the younger. Youngjae huffed out and took out the food from the bag.

"Hyung, I'm not going to leave until you eat this food." Youngjae declared and when he still got no response, Youngjae figured he would bring the food to the leader instead. The younger peeled off the lid to the stew and took out a pair of chopsticks before proceeding to approach the older. "Jaebumie hyung! Here! Foooood!" Youngjae exclaimed as he arrived next to the older who only briefly glanced at him before looking back at his screen. The younger huffed at that so he placed the styrofoam cup next to Jaebum's keyboard. Youngjae waited for him to at least take a bite but he didn't. Youngjae pouted thinking _maybe hyungie is thirsty?.._ so as he turned around in search of a water, his hand hit the cup causing it's contents to spill all over Jaebum's equipment starting from the keyboard.

Jaebum reacted quickly with shouting and immediately springing out of his seat as the stew fell on his pants. Seeing it spread to the mainframe of the computer, he quickly tried wiping it with his hands. Youngjae gasped as he witnessed it unfold and when he saw Jaebum trying frantically clean up the spill, the younger quickly took off his sweater and place it over the spill, trying to help his hyung stop it from leaking into the hard drive of the computer as much as possible. The leader quickly went back to the computer and furiously clicking on anything that could possibly save his work but it was too late. The screen did one final glitch before fading to a dark black.

Jaebum looked at the dark screen helplessly before remembering who caused this problem in the first place. Jaebum slammed his hand down on the desk causing Youngjae to jump.

"I-I'm sorry hyung! It w-was an accident!" Youngjae cried out as Jaebum's breathing became heavier. The younger singer nervously shifted from foot to foot as the moment of silence stretched out before being cut off by the older.

"Oh my God Youngjae! Can't you do anything right for once? Look what you did!" Jaebum yelled out in fury making the shorter flinch at the harshness of his tone, "You couldn't have left me alone?! If I didn't answer you it was because I don't want to talk to you! I should've never answered the damn door. You're such a fucking clumsy idiot! This song is due soon and you just fucking ruined it all! Our comeback is just around the corner!" Jaebum was breaking harshly by the end of his outburst but Youngjae refused to meet his eyes which bothered him even more. "Look at me when I'm talking to you! You're not welcome here anymore! You understand at least _that_ right?" The older spat out angrily, not thinking of his words.

Youngjae lifted his head and Jaebum was met with tears streaming down the younger's splotchy cheeks and building up in his red eyes. "I-I'm sorry hyung. I-I'm s-sorry I messed up your work. I'm s-sorry I tried to come in uninvited to give you food! I-I'm sorry!" Youngjae sobbed out, almost making the older immediately apologize for what he had said. "I'll leave now, " Youngjae continued as he wiped some of his tears away with the back of his hand, "I won't come back like you said." And with that, Youngjae dashed out of the studio leaving tear stains behind. Jaebum let out a frustrated grunt as he moved back to his dead computer and shoved the keyboard off the desk in anger causing it to loudly crash against the floor.

Jaebum then looked at the spilled food cup in disgust as he shucked it in the trash can along with it's contents. He then moved his gaze to that yellow fuzzy sweater Youngjae was wearing just moments before. Jaebum hated it. The singer shoved the soggy sweater in the trash can along with anything else that was there prior to it. The singer fell onto his chair and buried his face into his hands. Now he'd have to ask for a time extension and new monitor. There was no way he could remotely finish the song now. God really hated him, huh? Jaebum decided to just go home and ask for a time extension the next day. He packed up his belongings and left with tired eyes and a tired mind.

|☙|

Jinyoung was so tired of waiting already. This choreography just had to be perfect for their comeback. He didn't want to let down IGot7s. Everyone was on time for dance practice expect for _one person._ And that one person was none other than-

Choi Youngjae messily appeared in a Supreme shirt messily tucked in his denim shorts along with black sneakers and was out of breath. "I'm sorry I'm late!" he apologized with no further explanation as he set down his belongings, oblivious to six glares directed all at him.

"Ya! Choi Youngjae! Where were you that you were a whole hour late? What was so important?" Jinyoung questioned harshly causing Youngjae to flinch. 

"S-Sorry hyung," the younger apologized, "I-I was just-"

"I don't care what you were doing!" The older interrupted causing Youngjae to look down at his feet, "You wasted an hour of our time that we are going to have to make up! Don't you think we're tired too? Yet we're all here on time!"

Youngjae made a noise in his throat, "H-Hyung, I just-"

"Don't make up any excuses!" Jinyoung shouted, the stress of the comeback heavy on his back and in his tone, "All you have to say are excuses! I'm sick of it! Maybe it would be better if you never even entered the group if you don't even care about it." The silence that followed his outburst was defining as the other members awkwardly stood around before a quiet sob filled the room before abruptly stopping. Jinyoung looked at the younger shocked and was about to apologize but swallowed the urge down. The younger turned to the side as he furiously tried to wipe his tears away.

"I-I'm sorry hyung. I'll do b-better next time." Youngjae quietly promised earning a stiff nod from the older singer. Jinyoung immediately went ahead and started the practice and whenever it was time for breaks, Youngjae, who usually played around with Yugyeom, BamBam, or Jackson, sat in the corner looking at his water bottle while the rest of the members stiffly talked. Jinyoung became even more stressed with the situation and grunted. Someone always had a problem or issue and he would be the person most of them went to besides from Jaebum. The vocalist sighed and got up, the thoughts in his head becoming to overwhelming for him.

"Alright everyone," Yugyeom announced, getting everyone's attention, "Let's continue so we can go home already. It's pretty late already." Everyone nodded and got up to continue practice.

After awhile, Youngjae started to be behind in moves and wasn't timing them correctly. The others noticed but decided to just let him be since he was already nagged at a lot but one member was not having it. 

"Ya. Youngjae." Jinyoung called out after seeing the younger completely miss a vital part in the choreography, "What was that? You didn't put in any effort on that part at all!" Youngjae looked down at his feet once more as the older called him out. He was just tired. He just wanted to go to sleep at this point and never wake up again. "Are you even listening to me right now?" An agitated voice yelled out, pulling him from his thoughts, "It's like you want this comeback to fail, is that what it is? You don't care for the group anymore?"

Youngjae flinched and his eyes grew wide. "Th-That's not what it is!" Youngjae assured with pleading eyes, "I do care for the group! I'm just tired ment-"

"We're all tired, Youngjae!" Jinyoung shouted out, making everyone in the room, especially Youngjae, flinch. "We all want to go home, we all want to eat, we all want to sleep, we're all tired! Get that through that useless brain of yours! That excuse does not work when you're in a group. Either suck it up or leave. It's your choice though maybe you should leave with that mind set of yours." With that, Jinyoung angrily stomped past Youngjae, bumping his shoulder hard against the younger's, causing Youngjae to wince at the pain. A few moments of awkward silence passed before someone cleared their throat. 

"That's all for today I guess." Jaebum said and sighed out as he went after Jinyoung, the rest of the members following right after him, leaving Youngjae all by himself in the too quiet practice room. As soon as the other members left, Youngjae fell down on the floor and cried. He cried until he had no more tears and was numb to everything around him. He sat on the cold, cold floor until his brother worriedly looked for him since he wasn't picking up his calls or texts and found him in the practice room with dried tears on his cheeks. His older brother picked him up and took him home. Youngjae's brother cuddling with his precious younger brother and telling him how talented he is. And as Youngjae fell asleep against him, his brother rubbed the dried tears off and held him close. What Youngjae's brother wasn't prepared to hear however, was what Youngjae murmured in his sleep. He was going to have to ask the rest of Got7 what happened to make his sunshine of a brother cry. Those two words were too much for his brother to ignore.

"I'm sorry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know..was that good? Should I continue with this? Please give me feedback!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all those who have given this work kuddos and for the comments! Comments really fuel me and I like hearing positive things!:)) I was feeling REAALLLYY self conscious of this story but you all helped me write this second chapter! Thank you!!!! Also, sorry if the point of views get confusing to figure out. Like I mentioned in the previous chapter, I'm not exactly a pro in writing :,)

Youngjae was tired. More so than usual. He used to have so much energy and was so lively but as of recently, he just felt like this shell of himself. Youngjae sighed for what felt like the millionth time and it didn't go unnoticed by his older brother. Youngjae's brother had tried to find the reason on why the young vocalist was so emotionally down and drained recently but to no avail. Youngjae remained silent all throughout the morning. 

"Hyung," Youngjae called out causing his older brother to snap out of his thoughts and look up. "I'm going to head out now. I don't want to be late for vocal practice." The younger murmuring out that last part causing his hyung to frown but nevertheless nod.

"Ok," he answered as he watched Youngjae put on his baby blue coat on, "Just... Just don't come home too late. Ok?" Youngjae stiffly nodded and exited out the door before giving his older brother a tight smile that was equally returned in the same manner.

-

"Look whose actually here early for once," Yugyeom muttered out as he saw the older quietly enter the practice room, causing everyone to go stiff. Youngjae looked over at the maknae surprised and hurt. He was only late one time. And he wasn't even the only one who was late before. However, the older decided to just stay quiet instead. 

Yugyeom rolled his eyes as Youngjae chose to remain silent and set his things down in a corner. Yugyeom just wanted a week off already. Was that too much to ask for? It is always so tiring preparing for comebacks and having everything be perfect for the fans. He was so tired and annoyed, especially after having dance practice extended into the night when he could have been peacefully sleeping-all thanks to Youngjae. A deep frown appeared on the maknae's face just thinking about the whole situation.

"Come on then," Jaebum, the leader, announces as Jackson comes in as the last member, "Let's get started so we don't go home late again." At that, everyone looks at Youngjae and Yugyeom even glares at the older. Youngjae looked down once more and blinked his tears away-something he has been doing very often recently. A moment of silence passed before everyone got in the swing of things, once more leaving Youngjae alone. 

Their vocal coach came in soon after they all started practicing on their own. He was going one by one and was praising the rappers for their improvement. He even joked that the people would confuse them for vocalists instead of rappers causing Jackson to laugh loudly. Youngjae frowned at the compliment not because he thought they didn't deserve it but because wasn't he also improving? Everyone's praised Jaebum's vocals, they've praised Jinyoung's ability to hit high notes, and they've even praised Yugyeom's sweet voice but he hasn't seen anyone praise him. He hasn't heard anyone compliment him and that made him feel like he wasn't good enough. But he was a good singer too, right? He was talented? That's why he got into the group, right? 

The vocalist was pulled out of his thoughts by their vocal coach, however. "Youngjae-ah," he called out as he had finally approached Youngjae to hear how he was doing with his vocals, "Have you been practicing? Let's hear how you're doing, hm?" Youngjae gulped as he was put on the spot with seven eyes all boring holes into him. Youngjae usually didn't have a problem singing out loud in front of the vocal coach and his members but the way Jaebum had his arms crossed against his chest with a blank look on his face, the way Jinyoung was tapping his foot against the floor impatiently, and the way Yugyeom was glaring at him so hostilely really hurt Youngjae's already low self-confidence. The singer meekly nodded and with a wavering and week voice, he attempted to sing how the instructor wanted.

Ten seconds into his singing, the instructor's jaw dropped in shock and made the vocalist immediately stop. 

"What was that?" He cried out in shock causing Youngjae to flinch once again, something that was starting to become a daily thing, "You didn't improve at all! In fact, you sound as if you were a trainee. I don't know what's going on with you but if you continue this way even the rappers will have better vocal skills than you." The instructor sighed out and ignored Youngjae's red face. "Guess that's the cue for a break." But as everyone was dispersing to get their water bottles, the instructor held Youngjae back. "Youngjae, you continue working." He said out loud causing Youngjae to frown but nevertheless nod as the instructor walked out of of the room.

"Wow, not only can you not dance but you can't even sing now?" Yugyeom spat out cruelly towards the elder, "What can you even actually do well? You sure as hell can't sing or dance." Yugyeom shook his head with a scoff. He put his all into his singing for this comeback but to see Youngjae not do the same really rubbed him the wrong way, especially after seeing his lack in dance practice as well. 

Youngjae once again remained quiet and rushed out of the room to get away from the judging stares and thoughtless words. The vocalist ran into an unoccupied bathroom and that's when he started crying. He was trying his best, he really was, but that wasn't enough. His best was never enough. The singer quickly rubbed his tears away and splashed water on his face. He couldn't take too long or else he'd get in trouble again. Youngjae sighed. At least they had one more hour of practice left before they could go home and with that thought, he left the bathroom and went back into the practice room. As he entered the room, however, no one was in there except for the instructor.

"Um, where is everyone?" Youngjae quietly asked causing the vocal coach to turn his head towards the voice.

"I let them go home." He answered as it were obvious, "They did so well today that I didn't see a point in keeping them here." Youngjae fidgeted with the ends of his shirt as the coach continued, "You, however, get to stay here to work on your voice." Youngjae's head shot up but before he could say anything, the instructor beat him to it, "You have worsened since the last time I saw you and that's not good. You'll stay here for the remaining hour and then you can go home to your brother. I expect you to improve the next time we see each other." And with that, the voice coach left Youngjae in that lonely, lonely room.

|⚜︎|

Jackson was excited. He had a migraine, he felt like he was freezing yet boiling at the same time, and his whole body screamed at him to get some rest. Yes, he was really excited. This was the day he would get to go to China and promote his songs and his mom had even said she would see him when he landed. He hadn't seen his mom in such a long time so this was a blessing for him. The company had arranged this quite a while back now and Jackson has always been waiting in anticipation. Sure he was sick and dizzy as hell but he wouldn't miss this opportunity for the world. 

"Hyung, are you sure you are good enough to go?" Youngjae questioned with worried eyes, "You don't look too good. You should probably get some rest and medicine instead." 

Jackson rolled his eyes, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. You should worry about improving on the things you lack in instead." The Chinese rapper responded with a bite in his words causing the younger to frown which went unnoticed by the older. He didn't need the younger on his back about his health. With that, Jackson rushed out the door leaving a worried Youngjae behind.

He reported to the manager after he was ready and when the manager caught sight of him, he refused to take him anywhere but the hospital.

"But hyung!" Jackson argued with a frown, causing his migraine to worsen, "I _have_ to go! Everything is already scheduled and I can't miss seeing my mom! I will probably get better on the way there anyway!"

The manager sighed and shook his head, "No, Jackson, you have to get to the hospital. You look like you will faint any second! Your health is the company's number one priority. We'll get someone else to take your place so please let's go get you some medicine.

"W-What do you mean you'll get someone to take my place?!" Jackson stuttered out loudly as his body swayed from side to side, making the manager worry even more, "Only _I_ can promote my solo things in China!"

The manager chose to ignore him and pulled out his phone. "Jesus Jackson, you look like you're going to pass out! I was confused when Youngjae called asking to stop you from getting on the plane but now I know why." The manager mentioned as he typed a quick text to get Jackson to the hospital. 

Jackson froze at what the manager said, however. "What do you _mean_ Youngjae called you and asked you to stop me from getting on the plane?" Jackson cried out, causing the manager to look at Jackson in confusion.

"I mean exactly what that meant. Anyways, the car to take you to the hospital is here. Let's go." The manager replied and dragged an angry and sick Jackson into the car. Jackson was too out of it to remember much but he did remember the doctors and his manager speaking about if he came in later, he could've seriously injured his body and brain. Jackson fell asleep after hearing that, however.

-

Jackson woke up to a much less painful headache now and his muscles no longer feeling like too much to carry. He turned to his manager that was in the room who appeared was on a phone call. The call lasted a couple more minutes before the manager hung up. His eyes drifted to meet Jackson's and moved towards him.

"How are you feeling?" He asked with a quiet voice, something the rapper wasn't used to from the manager. 

"Better," the Chinese rapper quickly replied which earned a simple nod. "Who..." Jackson started, gaining the attention of the manager, "Who 'took my place.'" Jackson asked though not wanting the answer. The manager remained quiet for a minute before responding.

"Youngjae-ah." He stated, scanning Jackson's face for any sort of reaction before continuing, "Everyone else had a schedule or an important thing to do but Youngjae." Jackson clenched his fist at the answer. Why Youngjae? He couldn't speak Chinese, he couldn't find his way in China even if he had a guide or map, he couldn't correctly convey how much the songs Jackson rapped actually meant to him, he couldn't do a lot of things. Instead of lashing out immediately, however, he looked at the manger.

"Can I talk to him?" The rapper questioned earning a hesitant nod from the manager as he dialed the vocalist's numbers and one ring, two rings, three rings later, he answered.

"Hello?" Youngjae responded as the manager handed the phone to Jackson.

"Can you leave the room, please?" Jackson asked as innocently as possible, "I want to talk to him alone." 

"Sure," the manager nodded, already making his way out the door, "I'll be back with food for you." Jackson nodded and as he heard his footsteps slowly walk away, he returned his attention to the phone in his hands.

"Hello? Manager-nim?" Are you there?" The vocalist once more called out.

The rapper took a deep breath before responding. "It's me, Jackson." 

A moment of silence passed before Youngjae answered back. "Hyungie, how are you doing? Are you ok? I heard that you could've gotten seriously injured."Youngjae asked as if he actually cared.

"You're so fucking selfish." Jackson spat out angrily.

"Hyung, what are you talking about? I just-"Youngjae sputtered out before Jackson cut the younger off and continuing.

Manager-nim told me you took my place to go to China!" Jackson shouted out, no longer containing a level tone, "You _knew_ how much I was looking forward to go to China and see my mom! Yet, you told him to stop me from getting in that plane! Why, huh? Were you so selfish you just told him to take my place? Huh?"

"No, hyung, I was worried about your health!"Youngjae sobbed out, not used to _Jackson_ being this mean, "I didn't even know he was going to make me take your place! I was just terrified of you hurting yourself!"

"Bullshit!" Jackson snarled out, the pressure of just everything finally getting up him all at once, "I fucking hate you Choi Youngjae! I hate you!" And with that, Jackson hung up and harshly placed the phone on the bedside table. If only his stupid body didn't decide to be sick, he could've seen his mom.

-

Youngjae stared at the dark screen before him, tears already dried on his cheeks with red, poofy eyes. He just wanted Jackson to look after his health. Youngjae sat against the door in the hotel room clutching his phone like it was the only thing he had left. He was hoping the older would call or even text back to apologize but as the hours passed, Youngjae knew that was not going to happen. He had a thing Jackson was scheduled to do in an hour so he decided to finally get up and take a shower to at least look presentable for the public's eyes.

And as the water cascaded down Youngjae's face along with more tears, a quiet voice could be heard among the gentle noise of the water hitting against the floor,

"I'm sorry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regarding updates, should I update immediately when I have the next chapter done or should I wait until I finish two chapters and then post the first one meaning I make sure that the next chapter would already be ready? So like I would already have chapter three ready but I would need to finish chapter four before I can post it.
> 
> Lol sorry if that's confusing
> 
> Also, I'm sorry if I can't update this story often. School has me working to the bone and it's hard finding any free time. I'll try to write whenever I have time though! :))


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am in awe from the amount of love and support this story received..wow..Thank you to everyone who left kudos, bookmarked, and commented on my story! It means the world to me. I just wrote the first chapter mostly for myself.  
> I didn't know how much comments motivate and help me write. Please continue commenting! I would respond to comments but I don't want to accidentally miss a comment. I read them all though! I read them everyday and it honestly gives me an air of confidence to continue this story!  
> Once again, thank you to all of you!

Mark really didn't want to do a photoshoot today for the group's concept photos. He was already tired since he slept late listening to Jackson rant on and on about Youngjae. Truth be told, he didn't really pay attention to what was the reason he was upset besides it having to do with Youngjae. Mark entered the area along with the other members and the makeup noonas quickly fussed over them as they dressed them in the chosen clothes and applied them their makeup.

"All right, I need JB, Jackson, BamBam, and Yugyeom over there," the photoshoot director called out, getting everyone's attention before continuing, "And Mark, Jinyoung, and Youngjae please go over there where the stylists are." Everyone just simply nodded and made their way to their designated spots out on the floor. Mark just wanted to get this over with but he wanted to give his all to IGot7s' since they have done so much for the group so he buried down his stress and fatigue and put on a huge smile. 

The trio got into their positions and starting posing as they've been doing for a while now. It was almost second instinct for Mark at this point. However, as Mark studied the photographer's face he noticed that with every photo taken he frowned and took at least ten more. They were still taking photos as the other group of members finished their group shoots and were already taking individual photos. This irked Mark beyond belief since he wanted to get it over with. So, he finally asked what was wrong.

"Ah, it's just that Youngjae-ssi has really stiff facial and body expressions. It's not coming out well. In fact, it's horrible, to put it bluntly. We just thought as we took more he will have more natural expressions but no." The photographer replied causing both Mark and Jinyoung to turn and give annoyed looks towards the young vocalist who just looked down at his feet.

"I'm sorry," Youngjae apologized softly with a red face. He truly was sorry. He has just been so down lately. Everything he's been doing has been wrong and he hasn't gone a day without at least one person criticizing him and it's been emotionally draining for him.

The photographer sighed before speaking, "It's fine, Youngjae-ssi. We all have bad days at times. Might as well let you three go off for individual photos so we don't have to take up any _more_ time. We'll continue the group photos later."

Mark, Jinyoung, and Youngjae went for their individual photos and Youngjae never spoke once. He just drifted numbly and did as he was told. Eventually, all the members were done with their individual takes. All but Youngjae. The young vocalist couldn't seem to warm up to a camera and every single shot that was taken off him was no good save for a few that were ok. Jaebum, Jackson, BamBam, and Yugyeom already went home an hour ago but Mark and Jinyoung had to stay to finish taking photos with the younger. 

Ultimately, even the original photographer became tired and went home as soon as another one came to replace him. This only proved to be a wrong move since Youngjae was giving even worse photos. 

"Let's just a call this a day," the second photographer called out with a long and frustrated sigh, "You're clearly not going to improve with your photos. We'll just call you three in another time." And with that, he left as the trio was getting ready to leave.

Mark was the first to break the silence. "Ya! Youngjae!" Mark bit out causing the younger to flinch, "What were those photos? I tried keeping quiet the whole day but it's late and I can't anymore! Just what the fuck is wrong with you?!" Youngjae sagged his shoulders and when he was about to say something, Mark continued. 

"You can't even take some stupid photos! You can't do _anything_ right! Why were you even allowed into this group in the first place? You completely suck at everything! Throughout this whole month, you have been the biggest pain in the ass." Mark was red by the end of his rant and turned away from Youngjae quickly. 

"Me and Jinyoung are going to drive home. You can call you brother or walk home. I don't care." Just like that, he and a quiet Jinyoung made their way to the waiting car before driving off and leaving a depressed Youngjae behind. Sure it hurt when Jaebum or Jinyoung or even Jackson hyung yelled at him but not as much as it did for when his eldest hyung, who he looked up to since he was a trainee, to scream at him. The former sunshine and ball of energy didn't even realize he was crying until he noticed he couldn't even see through the water building up in his eyes.

He quickly wiped them away and called his brother instead.

"Youngjae-ah? Why aren't you home yet? Where are you?" Youngjae's older brother answered and hearing the only voice that hasn't made him feel light complete shit made the lovingly called baby otter sob out.

"H-Hyung? C-C-Can you pick m-me up?" Youngjae sobbed out into the phone.

"Oh my god are you crying? Were are you?" Youngjae answered him and his brother told him he was on his way. As Youngjae waited for his brother to arrive, he felt pitiful. He was just a burden for everyone. He felt like he was a burden to his members, to the staff, and even to his brother. His brother probably just pitied him is all. As these toxic thoughts continued to build up in him, he felt a very familiar pair of arms tightly surround him. 

He breathed in the familiar scent and sobbed into his brother's sleeve. His brother silently took him to the car and drove off. Once they arrived, Youngjae's brother helped the younger off and helped him get into bed. The once ball of sunshine clung onto his older brother as he fell asleep to his brother playing with his hair. Something was going on in the company to make his precious little brother cry time and time again. He just needed to find out what.

|✤|

BamBam has noticed the way Youngjae hasn't been around for the past couple of weeks. He's sure everyone in the entire company knew it. He noticed how the older has been spending a lot of more time with his brother which wasn't a problem, oh no, the problem was that while Youngjae got to live with his brother, BamBam couldn't. He lived alone. He missed his family and the fact that the older sees his brother everyday really made the younger a tad bit jealous.

The Thai rapper sighed and got up to go work on his rapping since he didn't have anything scheduled until later with the whole group. As he entered the practice room, he noticed someone was already there.

"Hyung, what are you doing here?" BamBam asked as Youngjae looked at the younger in surprise.

"Ah, I was just practicing my vocals." The older responded with a quiet voice as he tightly gripped his bag. BamBam seemed to take notice.

"Are you going to leave?" BamBam asked and when no reply came he continued, "You can leave." BamBam didn't mean for it to come out rude but it did and Youngjae's face fell.

"C-Can I stay?" Youngjae asked and when he noticed the look of confusion on the younger's face, he elaborated, "I just don't want to go home. I'll be quiet!" The rapper narrowed his eyes at the older and snorted not noticing the older bite his lip to stop any noise from escaping him. The younger of the two was confused at why would the older not want to be with his brother when he could be. He was so selfish and ungrateful. If BamBam were him, the Thai rapper thought, he would spend any chance he could with his brothers.

"I guess," the rapper muttered as he walked past the older and set his things down and immediately got to practicing and soon forgot the older was even there. That is until a loud crash was heard and rang throughout the whole room. BamBam quickly stopped with a startled noise and turned around then frowned when he saw Youngjae on the floor with water bottles scattered around him.

"I'm sorry!" Youngjae cried out as he hurriedly got up from the floor and collected the water bottles. "The chair leg tripped me. I was going to hand you a water bottle since you've been practicing for over an hour and I don't want your throat to go dry." 

BamBam rolled his eyes at that. "Whatever. I don't want anything from you." The rapper bitterly responded and proceeded to continue and ignore the older. Another quiet 30 minutes passed before the Thai rapper was interrupted.

"Bammie, I brought takeout we can eat before we have to go to our schedules," Youngjae said as cheerfully as he could as came into the room with a bag of Thai takeout. BamBam let out a frustrated noise and clenched his hand into a fist.

"I'm not hungry. Throw it away, I don't want it. Stop bothering me. My voice has to be perfect for the comeback so I'm trying to focus. Another thing you can't do." BamBam exclaimed and once again ignored the older. Youngjae bit his bottom lip and decided to leave the takeout on a table for the rapper anyway as he ate his portion quietly. Not even thirty minutes passed before BamBam was interrupted and finally reached his limit.

"Bammie, my brother ask-" Youngjae started innocently before a fuming BamBam finally snapped in frustration.

"Hyung, can you leave? Just leave. You're really not helping. All you do is make things worse and more complicated!" BamBam finally shouted out in total frustration, ”I don't care what _your_ brother asked for or what he wants. Just go home to him. Go anywhere you want, I don't care, but don't stay here. Just leave me the fuck alone!” After the rapper's burst of stress-induced yelling, Youngjae just dumbly nodded and rushed out of the room.

”So what did he say?” Youngjae's brother asked as the younger entered the car. He just asked Youngjae to ask BamBam if he would like a ride to their next schedule but Youngjae didn't reply which caused his hyung to furrow his brows. ”Is everything ok?” Youngjae quickly nodded and turned his head to face the window on his right.

Youngjae let out a wavering breath before speaking, ”Bammie just said no.” His brother was unconvinced that's all he said but he didn't want to cause his younger brother to be uncomfortable so he just left it at that and drove off to drop off Youngjae at his next schedule. 

Throughout the whole ride he didn't notice Youngjae silently crying as a weak apology escaped his lips as he watched the cars go by. He was truly broken now.

"I'm sorry."

|✤|

That night as his brother was asleep in his own room, Youngjae was crying as he looked up at the night sky outside the house. He was broken. There was no other way to say it. The young vocalist finally reached his limit. All those hate comments, all those evil words directed at him cut him deeper than any knife ever could and he was sure the scar would never go away. As the stars above him shone so bright he thought of something. Something that he has been thinking a lot of recently.

"They're right. I should never have joined the group. I'm just weighing them down.." Youngjae mumbled out brokenly as he wiped more tears away. Youngjae looked up at the huge sky and wished. He wished for something that he knew would save the last few pieces of his soul. 

"I wish I was never in Got7," Youngjae mumbled out as he slowly fell asleep outside under the stars and the huge sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I would've updated this yesterday, Friday, but I've been down as of Tuesday and didn't feel up for writing so sorry if the chapter was bad.. I had a Youngjae pin that I got at a Got7 concert over the summer and...someone stole it. Getting that pin meant a lot to me since he's my bias and I got it AT A GOT7 CONCERT. It may seem like something trivial to be sad over but what can I do;;;Sigh. Anyway, on a lighter note, look forward to the next chapter soon! Stray Kids will finally make an appearance! ❤️


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe I'll start responding to comments starting from this chapter. I feel loved. :')

Fate looked down at the young human sleeping way down below her. _"I wish I was never in Got7."_ Those words rang repeatedly in her head like an echo. Fate rarely, if ever, got involved with humans lives. But this specific case really stuck with her. She began watching this boy since he first cried due to that leader of his. She saw how almost every day for a whole month this boy was berated and insulted to no end. By the way the things were going was it truly the boy's fate to continue on with this miserable life of his which would ultimately lead to his downfall? She didn't think so. As a result, she called upon Destiny for an answer. 

"Was it truly this boy's destiny to be in that group of his?" Fate asked as she looked upon the sleeping boy. Destiny just simply nodded as she, too, proceeded to look at the boy. Fate seemed displeased with this answer and continued. "He will die like this. He deserves a better life. Things will not improve, I know it." She exclaimed as she saw into the boy's future. Destiny looked shocked at that but didn't reply. Fate hummed in thought and thought of an idea.

"What if he gets put into another group that would appreciate him? Would his destiny allow that?" Fate asked as she thought up of a plan. To this, Density finally responded.

"His destiny is to be with his current group of his, no other ones." She simply said with a neutral face but continued when Fate frowned, "However, his fate can change into a good one. You can temporarily change him to another group but leave the memories of the other members."

Fate bit her lip then spoke, "Would that work?" She asked unsure on how this would change his fate.

"Yes, it will," Destiny assured, "His absence would leave a hole in the members that wouldn't be fixed until they learn to appreciate that sad boy below." Fate seemed happy with the solution but before she could take action, Destiny asked a final question.

"Why are you involving yourself with this human boy? His life is trivial to you." Destiny questioned with a slight tilt of her head. This was very unusual behavior on Fate's part. Fate glanced at the boy before turning her gaze back towards Destiny.

"I don't know," she simply answered before the whole world turned to black.

|☀︎|

Jaebum slowly woke up the next day to his alarm and stretched as he slowly got up. He plugged in his phone to charge then proceeded to do his morning routine as he did every day. As the leader finished putting on his clothes and drying his hair, a knock was heard at his door. 

"Come in," he called as he grabbed and pocketed his phone. Jaebum watched as Yugyeom came in with a dazed expression. "Are you okay?" Jaebum asked as the maknae looked so lost in thought with a faraway look in his eyes.

Yugyeom didn't answer immediately but then snapped out of it. "Hyung," Yugyeom started with a quiet voice, "I think I'm not okay." 

Jaebum furrowed his brows at that. "What do you mean?" The leader asked worriedly as he placed his hand on the younger's forehead, "What happened?" Yugyeom took a wavering breath before answering.

"I-I don't remember having our comeback already," Yugyeom answered with a lump in his throat because how could he have not remembered having their comeback? He saw all of their fans talking about their comeback and how it was so great which got him confused. He then checked the date and noticed that a whole month has passed that he had no memory of whatsoever. He even saw it recommended to him!

On the other hand, Jaebum was confused. "That's because we haven't had our comeback yet? Are you sure you're okay Gyeomie?" Jaebum asked and was even more confused when the younger squeaked and a loud _you too?_ came out of him. "What do you mean me too?"

"Hyung! We already had our comeback!" Yugyeom shouted out with his hands tightly clutching his phone, "Everyone is talking about it all over Twitter! Our music video is even out!" Jaebum seemed unconvinced but nevertheless checked his phone when Yugyeom insisted he did. He was absolutely shocked.

"What is this?" Jaebum cried out as the music video for their comeback was the first thing recommended to him? The older clicked on it with Yugyeom also watching it with him and the first huge detail wrong with this whole thing left the two in shock.

"Hey, where's Youngjae?" Yugyeom voiced out Jaebum's own thoughts. "And why are we called Got6?" Jaebum had no answer and he couldn't wrap his head around to this whole situation.

"Am I dreaming?" He asked as he took a seat on his bed with a hand through his hair, Yugyeom looking no better. Why wasn't Youngjae in their supposed comeback? Jaebum was in total confusion. Another unanswered question was their group name. Why were they called Got6 when they had seven members and have always been called Got7 since before their debut? That's when a heart dropping thought crossed through his head.

Did that uncounted for month consist of a name change because Youngjae left? Or worse, did something happen to the singer? As all these thoughts crossed Jaebum's mind, Mark's head popped into the room.

"Why is everyone up so early?" Mark sleepily muttered as he rubbed his eyes tiredly, "And why are we in Jaebum's room?" Mark scanned both Jaebum's and Yugyeom's faces and frowned when they looked pale. "Am I missing something? Did something happen?"

"Hyung, what is the date?" Jaebum asked causing Mark to tilt his head in confusion.

"It's the twentieth of February of 2018? Are you two okay?" Both Jaebum and Yugyeom sucked in a sharp breath and looked at each other warily. They weren't the only ones. Leaving a confused Mark behind, the two youngers rushed past him and into Jinyoung's room. When the duo rushed into the Jinyoung's room, the singer was putting on a shirt.

"Ya! Don't you know how to knock?" Jinyoung exclaimed as he quickly finished putting on the rest of his shirt, "I expect this from Yugyeom but you, hyung? Wow. What a world." 

"Jinyoung, what day is it?"

"What? Why are you asking me this?"

"Answer the question."

"Sheesh, it's the twentieth. What's the problem?"

"Why did you two leave me behind? And why are we in Jinyoungie's room?" Mark asked, confusion lacing his voice as he also entered the singer's room. 

Jinyoung cleared his throat. "I would also like to know." The A and the leader looked at each other before answering.

"Check YouTube right now." Jaebum simply stated with Yugyeom surprisingly standing quietly next to him.

"Why?" The eldest and singer asked at the same time but nevertheless taking out their phones and opening their YouTube app. The first thing the two saw was a music video. Their comeback music video.

"What?" Jinyoung let out with a tight grip on his phone, Mark doing the same. "Is this some kind of prank? Did you do something to my phone?" Jinyoung continued after a few more seconds of silence, refusing to acknowledge the play button on their music video.

"Yeah, what is this? We haven't even came back yet. It's still February. Our comeback is scheduled for March." Mark pointed out, Jinyoung nodding in agreement.

"But it is March. Check the date.” Yugyeom said after seeing the 'really’ looks from the eldest and singer. The two did and just gave the leader and maknae weird looks.

"You could easily have changed the date on our phones,” Mark deadpanned.

"But we didn't."

"How would we know."

"Why would we prank you about this." Jaebum tried to reason, looking between the two of them. Whatever was happening was weird and he needed to know he wasn't the only one, besides Yugyeom, who was confused. 

Jinyoung shrugged before speaking, "I don't know but you've done a shit job. You can't even get out group name right. We're called Got7 not Got6 you idiots." Jinyoung finished with a laugh and a teasing tone lacing his words, Mark stifling a laugh besides him.

Yugyeom had enough and with a huff, he dialed a number for an explanation. Maybe this whole thing was a prank. Maybe this was a hidden camera. That had to be it.

"Hello?" The voice on the other side answered.

"Manager nim? It's me, Yugyeom."

"Yes, I know," the manager answered and shuffling noises could be heard before he continued, "Do you need anything? Is there a problem? We have a whole day of promoting today. I don't see any of you guys. Are you on your way yet?"

The four looked at each other in confusion before Mark responded for the younger. "Hyung, what do you mean promoting? What are we promoting?" The eldest asked as an unsettling feeling settled in him.

“Ah, Mark? You're there too? I mean promoting your comeback of course," the manager stated with a chuckle, "It's your guy's last day for promoting. The company needs to promote Stray Kids next, you've met them before." The four gulped and Jinyoung swore he saw Yugyeom stumble.

Jinyoung had no idea what was going on. "Y-Yeah we've met," Jinyoung answered with uncertainty in his voice?, "But we-we haven't came back yet? Is this a prank?"

The manager let out a laugh at that, causing the four in the room to frown. "Ah Jinyoung, you're there too? If I didn't know any better I would think _you_ all are pranking _me_ ," The manager chuckled before adding something else, "Anyways, Got6 needs to be here by noon and it's 10:30. Get the other members at the company soon." With that, he hung up leaving four very stressed members hanging.

"So t-this isn't a prank?" Jinyoung asked with a wavering voice as he looked down at the phone. The leader and maknae uneasily shook their heads.

A lot of wuestions were left for the four. We're Jackson and BamBam in the same amount of confusion as them? What happened to Youngjae? But most importantly,

"What the fuck happened?"

|☀︎|

Youngjae woke up feeling ecstatic; just as he was feeling yesterday, and the day before that. He finally debuted. He was so giddy about it. He always woke up smiling like a fool. All his effort, all his hard work, his participation in that survival show, all of it paid off.

"Hyungs," Felix, Youngjae noted, knocked on the door of the room he shared with Minho, who was sleeping, "Get up already. The manager wants us at the company by noon!" Felix finished with a shout and Youngjae heard him give a final knock before walking away. 

"Why is he so loud," Minho, also known as Lee Know, yawned out as he slowly got up and rubbed the sleep away from his eyes, Youngjae doing the same though he was already wide awake. Minho looked over at Youngjae and the older gave him a large and bright smile that rivaled the sun itself. "Aish it's too early for you to be so cute, hyung," Minho responded with a smile of his own and when Youngjae giggled at the compliment, Minho smiled fondly. 

"Let's go!" Youngjae cheered as he rushed out the room and into the bathroom to get ready for the day ahead. Minho poked his head out the room's door and watched as the eldest excitedly made his way into the bathroom.

"It's as if he's the youngest." Minho turned around when he heard the new voice. It was Seungmin. Minho chuckled and nodded. "Hyung has been anticipating our debut for a long time. This must be exciting for him." Minho hummed in agreement with a fond smile gracing his features. "Well, I came to get you. Breakfast is ready. Chan hyung made it with all his love." Seungmin happily replied with a smile. Minho smiled as well and followed the younger into the kitchen.

"Where's Youngjae hyung?" Chan questioned as he noticed Seungmin enter only with Minho.

"Taking a shower," Seungmin simply answered as he sat down and placed a piece of bread into his mouth. Chan nodded and finished placing the plates of food down around the table. 

"Good morning!" A bright and cheerful voice entered the room. All heads turned towards the eldest as he entered the room and took a seat next to Woojin. 

"Good morning hyung," they all answered in unison with a fond smile. 

"Hyung, did you sleep well last night?" Hyunjin asked as he finished swallowing another bite from his plate. 

Youngjae enthusiastically nodded earning coos from everyone at the table. "Mhm!" Youngjae grinned widely towards the younger. Hyunjin smiling softly in return. After a few quick conversations, everyone finished their breakfast and made their way to JYP. 

Youngjae smiled to himself as he stared out the car window as Minho and Woojin talked, Jeongin and Felix were messing around, Hyunjin and Seungmin were getting in a few more minutes of sleep, and Chan, Changbin, and Jisung were discussing songs.

"It's going to be a great day today. I just know it!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof  
> Welp


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took a little longer to post. I was really busy this past week. Enjoy this chapter though and sorry for any mistakes! :)

Stray Kids were dropped off in front of the company by noon and the group noisily made their way into the large building. "Youngjae hyung!" Jisung called out as he got out of the van causing Youngjae to turn around, "Wait for me." Youngjae strayed behind and then continued walking with Jisung as soon as he caught up. Youngjae just assumed he wanted company since everyone else was in pairs so he went along with it and just hummed to the tune of their debut song, District 9.

As the members made their way into the building, they saw their sunbaenims, Twice, on their way out.

"Ahh, it's Stray Kids!" Jihyo cheerfully called out as she spotted the new boy group, gaining the attention of the other members who soon were greeting the newly debuted group. 

"Wahh, congratulations on your debut!" Sana sweetly called out with a sincere smile. The Stray Kids members smiled and bowed respectfully and smiled back at their sunbaes.

"Twice sunbaenim!" Jeongin called out cheerfully as Dahyun pulled him into a hug. Nayeon doing the same and hugging Woojin and Felix. 

Youngjae happily hugged Jihyo before speaking. "Where are you guys going today?" Youngjae curiously asked with a slight tilt of his head. It was no secret that the Twice members were always busy with shows, promotions, or attending variety shows. It wasn't very common to see the girls in the building unless they were practicing. Youngjae admired them for their determination and strong will.

Jihyo hummed in response. "We were just on our way out to go to Weekly Idol." The other members nodding with a tired smile. "Well, what about you guys? How does it feel to be a newly debuted group?" Jihyo then asked as her eyes watched over the Stray Kids members, scanning their ecstatic faces.

"Ah it's been great!" Jeongin cried out joyfully with Felix nodding along. 

"It's been really exiting!" Seungmin added in with a genuine smile.

Youngjae was quietly observing the interaction between his members and the talented girl group fondly. He really enjoyed seeing his members laugh and joke around with the other group. Chan especially seemed to enjoy joking around with the girls having trained with the older group for a little while. The bright singer just quietly watched the sweet scene before a voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Youngjae-ssi!" The person in question turned towards the voice that called him like a deer caught in headlights. It was Jeongyeon. "How is it finally debuting? You've been waiting such a long time!" Jeongyeon asks, causing all eyes to go on him.

Youngjae nervously smiled which causes the girls, and guys, to coo at his cuteness. "Ah, well, it feels like I'm finally living." Youngjae simply answers with a wide and impossibly bright smile, Jeongyeon nodding in understanding. Just before she was going to speak again, the Twice manager, finally fed up, called the girls over frantically and told them to quickly enter their vans.

"It was nice to see you guys! Congratulations again!" Tzuyu called out quickly as she was rushed into the van. The Stray Kids members waved and said their goodbyes with bright smiles and continued on their way with their mood much brighter and energetic.

"Waa, they are so nice!" Jisung exclaimed as they got into the elevator, the other members quickly agreeing. Youngjae had to admit he was in a way better mood now. He had always admired the group since they were trainees so seeing them as successful as they were now really inspired and pushed him to work hard. Countless sleepless nights, frustrating days, and even times when he wanted to quit, all led to his- _their_ successful debut. 

The ten members exited the medium-sized elevator then quickly filled in the meeting room they were called into by their manager. The members gathered around the table as they patiently waited for their manager hyung to finish his call.

A few more minutes passed before the manager put down the phone with a sigh. "Sorry guys," he started as he turned around to look at the members, "Let's get started. The Got6 members also need to use the meeting room so I'll be as quick as I can." The Stray Kids members smiled at the mention of their sunbaenims and nodded. 

Youngjae smiled as well. He really admired the older group. They all worked so hard and have come far. Much like with Twice, the singer has admired the popular group since they have been a trainee. Youngjae has met the group occasionally but the members never really tried talking with the singer. The Got6 members (and ever some Twice members) were more close with Chan or Felix or even Minho than the vocalist himself. The lead singer was fine just admiring the older group from afar like some school girl with a crush on an upperclassman.

"Youngjae ah, are you even listening?" The manger's frustrated voice dragged the vocalist out from his thoughts and his face instantly heated up in embarrassment as everyone turned towards him.

"I-I-I- er," Youngjae stammered, not used to being singled out, "N-No, I-I-sorry." Youngjae bowed his head in an apology, tears forming in his eyes. He suddenly felt extremely self-conscious.

"You just missed out on your entire schedule!" The manager exclaimed loudly in annoyance. He sighed before continuing, "Just ask one of the other members."

"Uh, I actually wasn't paying attention either." Youngjae looked up to see who admitted that which was no one other than-

"You too, Woojin?" The manager asked in shock. Woojin made eye contact with Youngjae and smiled widely as he nodded in confirmation.

"I didn't pay attention either." Youngjae turned and came face to face with Chan.

"Me neither." Hyunjin gave his hyung a wide smile.

A cough, "Same for me." Felix.

"Me too!" The maknae, Jeongin, exclaimed.

"Uh me neither." Minho smiled at the vocalist fondly.

"Actually," Jisung and Seungmin started, "We weren't paying attention either. We were thinking about...gaming?"

Changbin cleared his throat, "I was thinking about songs." 

The manager was in shock and looked over at everyone with his jaw-dropping. "Unbelievable," he muttered as looked over everyone's expression before finally sighing, "I'll be back to explain it again later." With that, he left the giddy group by themselves. Youngjae couldn't help but sob out as the manager left. He was just so grateful for his members. They have been nothing but supportive since forever.

"Hey hyung, it's okay!" Seungmin, the closest to the singer, hugged and comforted the oldest, the other members quickly following and hugging the hard-working vocalist and giving the sensitive sunshine reassurances.

Youngjae sobbed out as a smile was on his face. A smile so big the other members smiled as well. "T-Thank you guys s-so much," the young vocalist sobbed out, still smiling widely.

Chan smiled and hugged Youngjae, "Aww hyung, it's okay! Don't worry about it! That's what family is for!" Youngjae just sobbed harder at that and hugged Chan tightly. This really is a family, Youngjae thought as he looked over everyone's smiling faces.

The moment was interrupted as the door opened again and in walked in-

"Got6 sunbaenim!" The Stray Kids members cheered out and instantly crowded the older group, Youngjae eyed to older group and instantly felt better just seeing the group. Youngjae quickly wiped away his dry tears and slowly joined the rest of his group.

Youngjae noticed the members looked dazed and was about to ask them if their was something wrong but gasped as Jaebum pushed through the his members and made his way to him along with the rest of Got6. Jaebum grabbed Youngjae's shoulders and stared at him.

"Youngjae ah! What happened? Do you know?" Jaebum asked loudly as his grip on the younger's shoulders tightened causing Youngjae to wince. The Got6 members were looking at him intensely and Youngjae wanted to disappear.

"J-Jaebum-sshi? W-What are you talking about? I-I don't..." Youngjae was shaking with tears building up in his eyes and Jaebum's intense gaze was not helping. The other Got6 members' eyes grew wide at his response and unknowingly gasped. Jaebum immediately released his grip on the younger as if he was burned and immediately ran out of the room. The other Got6 members quickly stared at the vocalist before following their leader out.

"What was that?" Hyunjin asked with a frown and he looked over at the oldest. 

"I-I really don't know," Youngjae mumbled out, "But I think I should ask them. Excuse me." Youngjae quickly rushed out of the room and went in search of the older group.

|❀|

"He doesn't remember either! What are we going to do?" Jaebum cried out as he ran his hands through his hair. He couldn't believe what was happening to them. Jackson sighed and crossed his arms. He didn't believe it at first either but now, he was ready to wake up. The Chinese rapper pulled out his phone and opened Google. He hesitated for a second before typing in Choi Youngjae in the search engine. 

"Guys," Jackson called out causing them to turn towards him, "It says Youngjae is a part of Stray Kids." 

"What? Give that to me." Jinyoung snatched the phone from the rapper's hands and started reading. "Oh my God," Jinyoung muttered out as he read Youngjae's profile. The members all crowded around the phone and became equally as shocked. How did this happen? 

"What happened?" BamBam asked with a sort of tiredness in his voice. They seemed to be asking this question a lot. They thought Youngjae would have the answer but he doesn't remember what they do. What would they do now?

"Got6 sunbaenim? Are you all okay? What happened in there?" An all too familiar voice asked making everyone quickly turn towards it.

"Youngjae ah..."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //The paragraphs that are in italics are flashbacks or memories//
> 
> And ugh, 2Jae has been occupying ALL my thoughts lately, Smh. You may or may not see uh 2jae in this chapter. I don't know anymore.

The other Got6 members were nervously and painfully looking at Youngjae but they couldn't find any words. No words seemed to fit into the situation. Jaebum, however, stared at Youngjae for a while. The singer could not take his eyes off him. He just couldn't believe that the younger didn't remember a thing. No one else besides his other members recalled the past. At this point, the leader was beginning to think _he_ was the one who had a memory problem.

Youngjae hesitantly cleared his throat and asked again more quietly while nervously looking down at his feet, "Jaebum-sshi? Are you okay?" Jaebum wanted to immediately say yes, he was perfectly fine but found that he just couldn't lie to him like that. Instead, the leader unconsciously remembered something that had tears forming in his eyes without his knowledge.

_"Jaebum-sshi? Are you okay?" Youngjae shyly asked as he slowly approached the soon to be the leader while he was in his studio preparing for their debut that would eventually come. The younger had been watching the older endlessly work for what seemed like forever going back and forth in the studio. The young vocalist never became too close with the leader due to him always being busy but today he couldn't just watch him over think every little thing he does._

_Jaebum turned around and saw the young vocalist shyly approach him. Jaebum also regretted not developing a close bond with the younger as he did with the other members. He was always reluctant to develop friendships since he himself was self-conscious, especially around the younger for some reason. Jaebum stared at the younger and simply nodded, his instinct response, before turning back around._

_The vocalist nodded and was going to leave but then stopped. No. He wasn't just going to let his hyung waste away in self-pity and depression. "Hyung...do you...do you want something to eat? Mark-ssh-hyung said he had dinner ready," Youngjae paused before continuing, "It's your favorite, soft spicy tofu stew." Jaebum perked up at that to which Youngjae noticed._

_"Yeah, hyung," the vocalist continued as he approached the older slowly as if he were approaching a scared puppy, "Mark hyung mentioned it was about time you ate something besides take out. It has all kinds of unhealthy things stuffed in it." Jaebum snorted at that since it was true. Youngjae smiled brightly at the response and decided to drape his arms around the sitting leader. "Hyuuuunnnggg," Youngjae playfully drawled out after gaining more confidence, "Let's go! I am hungry, you are hungry, we are all hungry!" Jaebum lightly laughed at the younger's enthusiasm and fondly nodded as he was getting up from his seat._

_And as the pair made their way out of the room, Youngjae lead the whole way back to the dorm while talking animatedly to Jaebum. The leader fondly watched as the younger singer laughed and giggled all along the way at his own comments and jokes. The leader had to admit that Youngjae was very very cute to which the singer found himself entirely endeared to. He would never admit it out loud though...no...he would just keep that private thought to himself for now._

_"And Jinyoung hyung said he would buy me a really nice notebook to write my piano compositions but he never did! Can you believe that?” The older lightly chuckled since yes, he could believe it since they were talking about Jinyoung after all. He knew that was not the answer the other wanted to hear, however._

_Jaebum slung an arm around the singer and hummed. "Do not worry my Youngjae ah," Jaebum casually said as the two were approaching the dorm, "If he won't buy it for you then I will." Youngjae noticeably brightened and started jumping up and down._

_"Really hyung? Really? You would actually do that for me?" Youngjae excitedly exclaimed as he looked up towards Jaebum with sparkling eyes and the brightest smile ever that rivaled even the sun's own bright flares made of the purest light._

_Jaebum quickly turned a deep shade of red at the response and turned his head towards the opposite direction, refusing to ever be caught blushing. "Y-Yeah, of course. You play the piano beautifully and write such meaningful lyrics," Jaebum stuttered out before continuing, "It would be a shame if you were to forget your compositions before I ever got the chance to hear you play."_

_Youngjae giggled while smiling softly and turned his own shade of red. "Wah thank you hyung! You are the best!" The younger singer hugged the older tightly for a couple of seconds and with a final wide smile directed at the soon to be official leader, opened the door to their dorm and hurried on ahead. Jaebum smiled, something he's been doing a lot around the younger singer, and followed Youngjae inside and closed the door behind him._

_"Woah, daebak, Youngjae actually got you to come," Mark exclaimed as he saw the leader walk into the dining room, "I thought you were going to stay there until our debut." Jaebum playfully rolled his eyes and took a seat next to Jackson. True to his word, Mark did indeed serve Jaebum's favorite food. Mark thought it might work to bring him home faster and it surprisingly did._

_Jaebum quietly ate the food with occasionally involving himself in conversations with the rest of the hyung line. Most of the time, however, the leader was watching the maknae line. Particularly Youngjae. Jaebum knew he was being subtle about it but whenever Yugyeom's hand settled on Youngjae's thigh or BamBam was leaning in too close with him, Jaebum coughed or "accidentally" banged his knee against the table. The two youngest looked at their leader in confusion but quickly brushed it off before they continued joking around._

_Jaebum also didn't know why he was acting up. Whenever anything involved Youngjae and the other members he would feel something ugly curl up deep inside him. He decided to just quickly brush it off and ignore whatever it was. The seven-membered team quickly finished eating and headed to bed in their shared rooms._

_"Good night hyung," Youngjae said with a yawn to which Jaebum replied back. Everyone soon fell asleep, one day closer to their debut._

_When Youngjae woke up he was surprised to find a wrapped box on his bed. Youngjae excitedly opened it up and smiled as he pulled out a note that came with it._ 'Hope you like it. :) -JB,' _The note read. Youngjae smiled and hugged the notebook to his chest fondly. He had to thank his hyung later._

"J-Jaebum-sshi?! I'm really sorry," Youngjae exclaimed hurriedly as tears rolled down the older's cheeks, "I-I don't know what I said or did but I'm really really sorry!" Youngjae immediately bowed at 90 degrees with his hands stuck to his sides. "I-I'll just go so I won't have to bother you anymore." Youngjae quickly turned around to leave but a hand firmly wrapped around his wrist causing him to jolt in surprise and turn around.

"It's not your fault," Jaebum quietly explained looking anywhere but Youngjae, "It's my own fault." Jaebum was going to continue but couldn't. He quickly released the younger and rushed away from him. 

The surprisingly quiet members watched as this all happened and went after their leader. "We're sorry, Youngjae ah," Jinyoung apologized quickly before joining the others. 

Youngjae stood there for a couple more minutes. What was he going to tell _his_ members?

|✾|

Jisung quickly scrambled away from the wall corner once everything was quiet and he heard the Got6 members' footsteps in the distance. He quickly re-entered the room the other members were waiting. "He's coming back," Jisung simply said as the members bombarded him with questions on what was happening. That caused them to quiet down and watch the door. By the time it did open and Youngjae came in, however, the atmosphere was very tense.

Felix was the first to break the loud silence. "What happened?" He asked cautiously as he watched his hyung's facial and body expressions.

"They didn't really answer me," Youngjae responded with a frown. The singer felt like he did something wrong. The Got6 members reassured him that it wasn't his fault but what was he supposed to think? They didn't tell him what the actual problem was so he felt as if he did something bad, whatever it may be. He started unknowingly crying and didn't realize it until he felt the familiar embrace of all his members. "I feel like it's my fault," the singer admitted after he wiped away his tears.

"Hyung, don't think that way," Woojin told the older as he rubbed circles onto his back to soothe him, "It's not your fault. You try and do your best in everything. No one will blame you for something you can't control."

"Yeah, you are doing your absolute best hyung," Chan added as he rubbed the older's arm slowly, "Just know that _we_ wouldn't blame you for anything." Youngjae tiredly smiled and chuckled.

"Aren't I supposed to be the oldest here?" Youngjae joked with a wide smile, "When did you guys get so wise?"

"When we met you!" They all responded with smiles of their own. The members quickly forgot the previous topic of conversation and were now just joking and messing around like usual with the 10 members they have. As Stray Kids talked, the door opened once again the reveal their manager.

"Come on guys," he called out as he held the door open, "We need to take you all to your first schedules as a newly debuted group." The members excitedly chatted and hurried on outside. Once in the van, Youngjae asked Hyunjin, the person seated closest to him, what their schedules were.

"We are first going to the After School Club," Hyunjin replied with a sweet smile to which Youngjae returned with a smile and a thanks.

"Is that it?" Youngjae then later asked as he started thinking further into the day.

"Uh, we are then going to do some stages for different shows. I think that is about it." Hyunjin finished with a thoughtful look. Youngjae thanked the younger and leaned his head against his shoulder and closed his eyes. Hyunjin smiled to himself and glanced fondly at his adorable hyung. The younger let him rest until he had to gently nudge him awake since they arrived at the studio to finish one of their first schedules.

"Hyung, we are here," he softly said causing Youngjae to wake up and stretch. 

"Thank you Hyunjinnie!" Youngjae fondly thanked as he followed the members inside the building with Hyunjin close behind him talking with Minho. Youngjae felt like they would be having a blast today as the team got their name tags to put on and pre-record other things. 

Youngjae smiled brightly. "Let's have lots of fun today guys." The members expressed their agreement by cheering. Maybe today wouldn't be a bad day after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This whole story is pretty much me free styling. As ideas come to me I write. So if you all have any ideas, please let me know in the comments! I can't guarantee I'll use them all but it will help me if I just can't think of what to write (which is often).
> 
> Thank you for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos! Much love from me to you!❤️
> 
> Oh and also, I am planning to have a member from Stray Kids have feelings for our sweet lil sunshine so in the comments, write the name of the member you want and I'll write the one with the most votes! The chosen member will show up more often and will be very important to the story's ending!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Results for the vote:
> 
> Woojin: 1 1 1 1 1 1  
> Chan: 1 1  
> Minho: 1  
> Changbin: 1 1  
> Hyunjin: 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  
> Seungmin: 1
> 
> Hyunjin won with 7 votes!  
> （ｖ＾3＾）ｖ 
> 
> The way I tallied the votes were that for any person even mentioned, I gave them a vote ^^
> 
> I'm sorry if you're disappointed with the way the results turned out but I did wait one whole week for voting before I even started writing anything! Hopefully this doesn't make you stop readingㅠㅠ
> 
> Also, things in italics are in English:)

The Stray Kids members soon excitedly entered the studio room for the live shooting of their first ever segment on After School Club and stood off to the side so the MCs, Kevin and Jae, could introduce them.

_"JYP! JYP! JYP! JYP! JYP,"_ Jae chanted out with Kevin briefly joining in causing the members to laugh and Youngjae to let out a giggle. Kevin and Jae quickly settled down and started to show and explain some of the best moments of last week's episode with Wonpil and Dowoon, the maknaes from Day6.

Kevin and Jae talked about last week's episode briefly before Kevin finally enthusiastically introduced the new boy group. _"Now it's time to meet the boys from JYP they are Stray Kids in the building!"_ The camera then panned towards the members who were excitedly chanting 'JYP' as the camera captured their joyful and enthusiastic expressions. Youngjae waved at the cameras eagerly with a bright smile which caused the other members to coo at him and join in along with their hyung. The camera then went back to filming the MCs, Jae and Kevin, who then cued a Stray Kids introductory video that played their debut song, District 9, and introduced each member. Youngjae couldn't stay still. He was excitingly talking with the other members about the whole thing. He has waited a long time for this.

"Wow, after watching this show for as long as it was out I never imagined we would be here so soon!" Youngjae dreamily sighed out with a huge smile plastered on his face, the other members nodding in agreement.

"It's because you're such a great leader, hyung," Hyunjin softly spoke out with a sweet smile of his own towards the eldest of the group. Youngjae heard and gave the younger a grateful smile in return. He was glad he had the support of his sweet dongsaeng.

The young members quickly made their way towards the seats set out for them as the video was playing, the MCs doing the same. Youngjae sat down on the first seat from the lower row. Hyunjin was going to happily sit next to the older but before he could, Chan unknowingly took the occupied seat right in front of him. The dancer deeply frowned yet quickly replaced it with a shaky smile to avoid any unwanted questioning from any of the members and hesitantly decided to just take the seat above the leader.

The video came to a conclusion shortly after and the cameras were finally on them.

_"I love the energy!"_ Kevin exclaimed with a smile while Jae nodded in agreement as his eyes scanned over the Stray Kids members as they cheered for themselves with wide smiles. _"Now please say hello to your fans!"_

They nodded and Youngjae happily started their introductory phrase, "One two _step out!_ Hello we are Stray Kids! Wooooo!"

Jae chuckled at the their energy. " _Alright uh_ ," he started while briefly looking at his cards, " _Please introduce yourself individually_. Please introduce yourself individually."

The camera zoomed in and focused on Youngjae first who in turn quickly looked at the camera with a wide smile on his face. " _Hello_ ," Youngjae eagerly said while waving at the camera rapidly, " _I am Youngjae..uh..leader of th-this g-group?_ " Youngjae stuttered out while looking at Chan next to him to see if he got it right. When the Aussie nodded encouragingly towards the older, Youngjae continued, " _It is really..uh..cool to meet you a-all!"_

The members cooed at their adorable hyung before the camera moved towards Chan. _"Hello,"_ Chan fluently said with his Australian accent many fans enjoyed, _"I am Chan. Nice to meet you all!"_

Minho was the next one to be focused on. _"Hello. My name is...Lee Know. Nice to meet you."_ Minho quickly waved and bowed with a polite smile. Youngjae smiled at his members introducing themselves fondly. They were just too cute.

_"Hello I am Seungmin and I am in charge of vocals in this team. Nice to meet you."_ Seungmin introduced himself fluently in English which made Jae and Kevin surprised and both complimented his English making the younger smile bashfully. 

_"Uh hello. My name is uh...I.N and I am...youngest in Stray Kids."_ Jeongin said in his limited English with a cute smile as everyone else died over his cuteness. The maknae smiled some more and then proceeded to pass the mic to Felix who was sitting on his left.

" _G'day guys my name is Felix and I'm from Stray Kids_ ," Felix said in introduction as he looked at the camera and then continuing, " _G'day guys! How're ya guys doing?_ " The Australian finished with a strong Aussie accent that had the MCs to laugh and smile. Felix smiled at the camera one last time before it went to focus on the next member, Hyunjin.

" _Hi guys my name is Hyunjin nice to meet you!_ " He said somewhat fast as he quickly glanced over at Youngjae before smiling and waving at the camera and passing the mic to Changbin.

" _Uh hi I'm Changbin. Thank you!_ " The rapper summed up as he winked at the camera and quickly passed on the mic to the second oldest.

" _Hello my name is Woojin_." The singer spoke into the mic as he looked at the camera with a smile. " _Yeah!_ " He added causing everyone to laugh.

The camera panned towards the final member.

"Hi guys my name is Han from Stray Kids. Uh, I'm really glad to see you guys and I'll do my best today. Thank you." Jisung spoke in English to his best ability and nodded at the camera. Everyone clapped at the camera finally focused on the group as a whole.

" _Okay please say hello to the fans at the back_." Kevin asked as he and Jae motioned to the monitors behind the new group.

The ten members excitedly turned around and waved at their fans eagerly. They gave them all kinds of hearts and flashed them their million dollar smiles. The fans frantically waved back at them and held up signs for them. Youngjae giggled at their enthusiastic and adorable fans. 

There was this young male fan who held up a Choi Youngjae banner with a huge smile. Behind him was a wall filled with pictures and posters of said vocalist. The members all laughed good heatedly as they nudged their leader to look at the good-looking male fan. Youngjae's face became a deep red as he shyly giggled and waved at his fanboy who eagerly waved back.

All the members continued laughing except for one. Hyunjin's face turned sour as he caught sight of the male fan. He sure didn't like the way Youngjae turned red at the sight of the fans room either. Hyunjin wasn't one to get jealous but sometimes he just can't help it when it comes to his dear hyung. He realized he was frowning too long and immediately smiled wide as they turned back around to face to cameras thinking no one noticed. 

Changbin, the one sitting next to Hyunjin, sure did notice, however. He noticed the way the younger frowned once he saw the screen that held the fanboy on and put two and two together. He would have to talk to the dancer later.

" _Okay now let's continue!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm really really sorry i haven't updated in a long time. (Almost two months) I have been EXTREMELY busy these past two months and the few days when I was free I either slept or volunteered at places. 
> 
> I was mostly working on my 3 TAFE competitions that were due for my education pathway as well as other projects for my other classes, studying and taking my finals for the semester, and taking my SAT. 
> 
> I on my break now and thank you so much for staying with me through my school life crisis and commenting and leaving kudos. It really does mean the world to me. :) 
> 
> I'm also sorry this chapter is so sort and probably bad.ㅠㅠ I just really wanted to get something out. The next chapter will be much better and longer! Happy New Years!


End file.
